JP2006178782A - Information processing method, delivery information processing method, delivery information processing program and delivery processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently deliver a content of large capacity without increasing the load of a network or a server. <P>SOLUTION: The server 14 connected to a P2P network 10 divides a content C to be delivered to a plurality of content fragments CF, and generates content information CI enabling restoration of the content from the content fragments. The server distributes and delivers the content fragments to peers, and discloses the content information on the P2P network. According to this, a peer which wants to acquire the content acquires content information first, collects the content fragments based on the content information, and restores the content from the collected content fragments, whereby the peer can acquire the content. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and in particular, an information processing method for distributing distribution information such as various contents such as video and music on a P2P network, a distribution information processing method, The present invention relates to a distribution information processing program and a distribution processing apparatus.

  As a form of a network system in which an information processing apparatus such as a computer is used as an information processing terminal and is connected to each other via a network, there is a P2P (Peer to Peer) system in addition to a client server system.

  The client server system is a system in which a server executes various services for managing various information resources and providing various applications, and a client receives services provided from the server.

  On the other hand, the P2P system is basically a system in which individual peers (for example, personal computers) connected to the network are equal without providing a dedicated server, and each peer provides a predetermined service. It is a system that can operate as a server provided to other peers.

  In other words, in the P2P system, various servers can be provided, but the operation as a server can also be performed by being distributed among individual peers, and various technical proposals for such a P2P system have been made. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  On the other hand, with the expansion of network bandwidth, broadbandization has been progressing rapidly, and this has led to the increased distribution of content such as e-mail magazines and advertisements over the network, as well as images, videos, Large-capacity content such as audio and other multimedia content is distributed over a network.

  By the way, when content is distributed using a network, a method of installing a distribution server storing the content to be distributed as a distribution processing device and downloading the content from each information processing terminal from there is generally used.

  However, with this method, if access from each information processing terminal to the distribution server is concentrated, the processing capacity of the distribution server will be insufficient (overflow), or the network bandwidth of the line to which the distribution server is connected will be used up. May end up. In such a state, it becomes impossible to access the distribution server, the download speed is extremely reduced, the download takes time, or the download stops midway.

  In order to prevent this, it is necessary to take measures such as installing a plurality of high-performance distribution servers or expanding the network bandwidth of a line connected to each server, resulting in an increase in equipment cost and management cost.

On the other hand, in order to suppress access concentration to the server, a network has been proposed in which the number of clients connected to the server is reduced by peer-to-peer connection between clients having a global IP (see, for example, Patent Document 3). .
JP 2002-335269 A JP 2002-256363 A JP 2003-203023 A

  However, when distributing large-capacity content such as moving images and music, even if the number of information processing terminals connected to the distribution server is reduced, it must be downloaded from the distribution server. For this reason, if access to the distribution server is concentrated, problems such as inability to access the distribution server, extremely slow download speed, long download times, and download stops. It cannot be resolved.

  In addition, when a part of the content is changed due to version upgrade or the like, the content must be newly downloaded from the server, and access to the distribution server is concentrated at this time as well. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and an information processing method capable of efficient distribution while suppressing an increase in load due to concentration of access when distributing a large amount of content from a distribution server or the like, An object is to propose a distribution information processing method, a distribution information processing program, and a distribution processing device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides information processing when delivering predetermined content in response to a request from a peer in a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other. A method of dividing the content into a plurality of fragments and generating related information enabling the content to be restored from the fragments, distributing each of the divided fragments as a shared data to a predetermined peer, The related information of the content is disclosed, and each of the fragments can be collected in the peer-to-peer network from the related information, and the content can be restored based on the collected fragments.

  According to the present invention, the content to be distributed to each peer in the peer-to-peer network is divided into a plurality of fragments, and related information for restoring the original content from the fragments is generated, and the related information is published on the peer-to-peer network. At the same time, the fragments are distributed to predetermined peers and distributed.

  A peer who wants to acquire content first acquires related information of the content to be acquired that is published on the peer-to-peer network, and collects content from this related information. As a result, the content is restored based on the collected content and the related information.

  Thus, access from peers does not concentrate on a distribution processing device such as a distribution server in order to acquire content. In addition, since the capacity of each fragment is smaller than that of the original content, it is possible to reduce the load on the network.

  Such related information only needs to include information for identifying fragments and the order in which the fragments are connected, etc., as necessary to restore the original content.

  Further, according to the present invention, when distributing new content in which a part of the fragment is changed, the changed fragment is distributed, and the new content can be restored by the original content fragment and the new fragment. It is characterized by generating and releasing related information.

  According to this invention, for example, when a part of content is changed due to version upgrade or the like, only a fragment corresponding to the changed part is newly distributed, and related information using this fragment is generated and released.

  This simplifies the work for enabling the distribution of upgraded content, and the peer holding the original content only needs to obtain the changed fragment. The efficiency when obtaining is improved.

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the peer that has collected the fragment based on the related information holds at least one of the fragments as shared data.

  According to this invention, the peer that has acquired the content holds one of the fragments as shared data. As a result, since the fragments can be distributed on the network, it is possible to shorten the time when other peers acquire content.

  That is, in a peer-to-peer network, information is exchanged via a peer. For this reason, if the number of peers passing through increases, it takes time to transmit information. At this time, the fragments can be distributed so that fragments can be obtained from nearby peers with a small number of passing peers.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the fragment held as the shared data is set based on the fragment held by a peer within a predetermined range from the corresponding peer.

  At this time, for example, it is possible to check the presence or absence of fragments for constituting one content in the surrounding peers, and to hold the fragments that are owned by few or none of the peers as shared data Preferably, this makes it possible to shorten the time when surrounding peers acquire the content and reduce the load on the network.

Such a distribution information processing method for achieving the present invention is a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other, and a predetermined content is received in response to a request from the peer. A method of processing distribution information to be distributed, wherein the content is divided into a plurality of fragments, and related information that enables the content to be restored is generated from the fragments, and the related information is disclosed to a peer-to-peer network.
The fragment is distributed and distributed to predetermined peers in the peer-to-peer network as shared data that can be transferred according to the request of each peer.

  The distribution information processing program is a distribution information processing program that enables distribution of predetermined content in response to a request from a peer in a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other. Splitting the content into a plurality of fragments, generating related information from which the content can be restored, publishing the related information to a peer-to-peer network, and sharing the fragment Distributing the data as data to predetermined peers in the peer-to-peer network.

  Further, the distribution processing device is a distribution processing device capable of distributing predetermined content in response to a request from a peer in a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other. Dividing means for dividing the content into a plurality of fragments; information generating means for generating related information enabling the restoration of the content from the fragments and publishing the related information to a peer-to-peer network; and the fragments for the peer-to-peer network Distribution means distributed to predetermined peers in the network and held as shared data that can be transferred to the peer in response to a request from the peer. To reduce the load on the network while Tsu of delivery is possible.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent access from being concentrated on the server when distributing a large amount of content. As a result, it is possible to obtain an excellent effect of suppressing an increase in cost for a server and a network for distributing content and enabling efficient content distribution.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a network 10 applied to the present embodiment. The network 10 is formed by connecting a large number of information processing terminals 12. In addition, a server 14 such as a distribution server that stores content for distribution is directly or indirectly connected to the network 10 via another network. Each of the information processing terminals 12 can download the content stored in.

  This network 10 forms a P2P (Peer to Peer) network in which information processing terminals 12 are virtually connected to each other. That is, in the network 10, the information processing terminal 12 is a peer (hereinafter, the information processing terminal is referred to as a peer 12).

  Each peer 12 may be subject to access restrictions by a firewall, may be connected by address translation by NAT (Network Address Translation), and the connection method between peers 12 is IPv4 (Internet It is possible to use TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) using the function of Protocol version 4).

  As the peer 12, not only various computers such as a personal computer but also a network connection such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a mobile phone, a printer, a copier, and a multi-function machine having a plurality of functions including a printer function and a copy function In this embodiment, the information processing terminal that is operated and used by a user such as a personal computer, a PDA, or a mobile phone can be included. An application example will be described.

  In the P2P network, the peer 12 can have various server functions, and in the P2P network 10, various servers such as an SMPT server may be connected. The network 10 is a so-called so-called server 14 connected to the P2P network. Although it is in the form of a hybrid P2P network, the network 10 will be described as a P2P network 10 below. Moreover, a conventionally well-known structure can be applied to such a basic structure of the P2P network 10, and only an outline of the basic structure of the P2P network 10 will be described below.

  In the P2P network 10, a group (hereinafter referred to as “peer group 16”) can be configured for each of a plurality of peers 12 according to the purpose and the like. At this time, the peer 12 belongs to at least one peer group 16, but may belong to only a single peer group 16, or may belong to a plurality of peer groups 16.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the peer 12. The peer 12 is provided with a data sharing unit 18 for sharing data and the like within the P2P network 10. In the data sharing unit 18, a P2P infrastructure configuration unit 20 and a P2P infrastructure management data storage unit 22 are formed. Further, the peer 12 is formed to include an application execution unit 24 and an application memory 26 in addition to the data sharing unit 18.

  The P2P infrastructure configuration unit 20 includes a message control unit 28, a transmission unit 30, a reception unit 32, and a data management unit 34. The transmission unit 30 transmits the message or data received from the message control unit 28 into the P2P network 10.

  The receiving unit 32 receives the data necessary for the own device or the peer group 16 to which the own device belongs and the data transmitted within the peer group 16 among the data transmitted within the P2P network 10, and the received data Is transferred to the message control unit 28. The transmission unit 30 and the transmission unit 32 operate in parallel.

  The message control unit 28 includes a service execution unit 36 and a message dispatch unit 38. The service execution unit 36 executes various services such as a peer search service, a notification information disclosure service, a notification information acquisition service, a group management service, a user management service, and a peer management service. At this time, the service execution unit 36 executes each service while exchanging information on each service.

  The peer search service searches for peers 12 participating in the P2P network 10 including the peer group 16 and peers 12 that can provide a service (function) required by the own device. For the search range, any known method for specifying and controlling a threshold value of the number of hops that is the number of peers through which the name, attribute, message, and the like of a required service are transmitted can be applied. .

  The notification information disclosure service has a function of making information such as a service that can be provided by its own device into notification information and disclosing the notification information in the P2P network 10. At this time, by setting the application executed by the application execution unit 24 as a service that can be provided, the application or the like can be included in the notification information. The announcement information may be disclosed, for example, when there is an inquiry from another peer 12, or may be performed when the own device logs in to the P2P network 10, or during login. It may be performed at any timing that is regular or irregular.

  The notification information acquisition service acquires the notification information transmitted from the peer 12 searched by the peer search service and the notification information transmitted spontaneously by the peer 12. In the notification information acquisition service, data management using the acquired notification information for each peer 12 can be performed.

  The P2P infrastructure management data storage unit 22 is provided with a shared data storage unit 40 using an HDD or the like, and the data management unit 34 stores the notification information in the supply data storage unit 40 when receiving the notification information. Thereby, the peer 12 can grasp the service provided by each peer 12 in the P2P network 10 and the peer group 16.

  The group management service manages group information such as participation in and withdrawal from the peer group 16 and creation of a new peer group 16. As the group information managed here, for example, information indicating the correspondence between the group ID and the user ID determined for each peer 12 can be used.

  This group information is stored in the shared data storage unit 40, and by referring to this group information, the peer 12 belonging to the peer group 16 or the P2P network 10 can be grasped together with the own device.

  The user management service (status information management service) manages the status information of the peer 12. The status information includes information such as a peer ID of each peer 12, a user ID that identifies a user who uses the peer 12, a user name, and an e-mail address. As the peer ID, an IP address, a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), or the like can be used.

  This status information is stored in the shared data storage unit 40 in contrast to the above-described group information. As a result, in the peer 12, the peer 12 in the peer group 16 or the peer 12 in the P2P network 10 is stored. The status of can be grasped.

  The message dispatch unit 38 analyzes a message created by the application execution unit 24 and a message transmitted / received to / from another peer 12 and passes the analysis result to the service execution unit 36. The service execution unit 36 executes a service based on the information analyzed by the message dispatch unit 38.

  In addition, the P2P infrastructure management data storage unit 22 includes path information such as information related to the spanning tree in the P2P network 10, public information for each peer 12, group information regarding the peer group 16 to which the own device belongs, status information for each peer 12, and the like. In addition, various types of information including neighbor information and user information are stored.

  The adjacency information includes a peer ID related to the peer 12 adjacent to the own device, and the adjacent peer 12 is, for example, the peer 12 within a preset response time for a packet transmitted from the own device, For example, it can be created and updated using a response time obtained in the process of communicating with another peer 12, or can be manually set.

  The public information of the peer 12 includes status information such as the peer ID of the peer 12 searched by the peer search service of the service execution unit 36, and the peers 12 on the P2P network 10 acquired by the notification information acquisition service and in the peer group 16 Contains information about the services provided.

  On the other hand, the application execution unit 24 executes various applications installed in the peer 12. The application memory 26 also stores various programs such as application programs and data executed by the application execution unit 24, data, and the like.

  In the peer 12 configured as described above, a message can be multicast by designating the peer 12 in the peer group 16 or the peer 12 provided in the P2P network 10.

  In addition, the peer 12 can broadcast the information to the P2P network 10 and release the notification information to the P2P network 10 and obtain the notification information of other peers 12.

  On the other hand, the P2P network 10 can include a peer 12 with a transfer function that has a function of transferring a message to another peer 12 and an end peer that transfers a message using the peer 12 with a transfer function. At this time, the message execution service function is provided in the service execution unit 36 in the peer 12 with the transfer function.

  Thereby, for example, the end peer 12 searches for the peer 12 with the transfer function from the shared data, and sends a message to the peer 12 with the transfer function. When receiving the message, the peer with transfer function 12 analyzes the received message and executes the processing service described in the message.

  At this time, if it is a message transfer request, the message is transferred to the transfer destination peer 12.

  Further, if the requested service is, for example, a file search for acquiring a file or content, the presence / absence of the file / content from the shared data, the presence / absence of information regarding the peer 12 holding the file / content Confirm.

  At this time, if the peer 12 holds the relevant file or content, or if the information about the peer 12 that holds the relevant file or content is acquired, the message of the relevant information is transmitted (search source) To peer 12 of.

  Further, if the peer 12 with the transfer function does not hold information regarding the file or content, it creates a file search message, broadcasts or multicasts the created message to the surrounding peers 12, and searches the search file or content from the response message. If the information regarding is acquired, the acquired information is distributed to the source peer 12.

  As a result, the source peer 12 can acquire information related to the search file and content, and can be acquired by downloading the search file and content based on this information.

  On the other hand, in the peer 12 with transfer function, the other peer 12 with transfer function is stored in advance in the own device, and each information such as group information and user information is transmitted to the other peer 12 with transfer function by multicast or broadcast. Make an outgoing request.

  Based on this request, the group information and the user information are acquired by each of the peers 12 with a transfer function, so that the shared data storage unit 40 uses the user information and peer information of each peer 12 constituting the P2P network 10 as shared data. To remember.

  Each of the peers 12 stores adjacent information. This adjacency information is acquired from a response time to the corresponding message when a message is transmitted to the surrounding peers 12. Each of the peers 12 includes the adjacent peer 12 with a transfer function in the adjacency information.

  The peer 12 with a transfer function broadcasts a neighbor information request to each peer and acquires the neighbor information of each peer 12. The peer 12 with a forwarding function multicasts the neighboring information of each peer 12 and the neighboring information of the own machine to other peers 12 with a forwarding function, and the peers 12 with other forwarding functions Neighbor information is exchanged by requesting the retained neighbor information.

  The peer 12 with a transfer function periodically acquires neighboring information and calculates a spanning tree. The spanning tree has a message transfer path having a tree structure in which the forwarding function peer 12 is a branching or passing point, and the forwarding function peer 12 calculates the spanning tree to each end peer. 12 is stored as route information. In the route information at this time, the number of hops that is the number of peers 12 that pass through is also calculated and stored.

  By the way, the server 14 connected to the P2P network 10 stores the content C for distribution, and distributes the content C to the peer 12 in response to a request from the peer 12. The peer 12 can use the content C by downloading the content C.

  The server 14 can distribute relatively large-capacity video and music as content, and performs on-demand video distribution using video video (video stream) and on-demand music distribution using music as content. . In addition, the server 14 is capable of so-called Internet broadcasting that distributes while creating voice, music, or video.

  Further, in the P2P network 10, various learning materials are stored as contents in the server 14 and distributed on demand so that so-called e-learning can be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the server 14 is provided with a content storage unit 42. The content storage unit 42 stores content to be distributed and content list information (content list).

  Further, the server 14 is provided with a content dividing unit 44, a content information generating unit 46, a content distributing unit 48, and a content information disclosing unit 50.

The content dividing unit 44 divides the content into a plurality of content fragments. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a large number of contents C, C ₁ , C ₂ ... C _m are stored. C) is divided into content fragments CF ₁ , CF ₂ ,... CF _n (hereinafter collectively referred to as content fragment CF).

  The content information generating unit 46 generates configuration information related to the content fragment CF for forming the content C and configuration information for restoring the content C by connecting the content fragment CF as the content information CI.

  Thus, the content fragment CF is collected based on the content information CI, and the collected content fragment CF is connected based on the content information CI, so that the content C can be restored.

  The content distribution unit 48 distributes and distributes each content fragment CF generated by dividing by the content dividing unit 44 to a predetermined peer 12 such as the peer 12 around the server 14. At this time, the content information CI may be distributed together with the content fragment CF.

  Thereby, in the P2P network 10, the content C is distributed as a content fragment CF to a plurality of peers 12 and held (cached) as shared data. In the P2P network 10, content information CI for the content C is acquired, and this content is acquired. By collecting the content fragment CF based on the information CI, the content C can be acquired. Note that the first distribution destination of the content CF from the server 14 can be the peer 12 adjacent to the server 14, but the distribution destination is not limited to this.

  Here, an outline of acquisition (downloading) of content C at the peer 12 participating in the P2P network 10 will be described.

  FIG. 5 shows an outline of downloading of the content C at the peer 12. This flowchart is executed when the content C is acquired by the peer 12. In the first step 100, a list of content C distributed by the server 14 (content list) is requested. The request for the content list may be made to the server 14 or may be a request for a list of content held as shared data in the P2P network 10 or the peer group 16.

  When the peer 12 acquires the content list, the content C to be downloaded is determined in step 102.

  In the next step 104, the content information CI of the determined content C is searched and the content information CI is acquired. The search and acquisition of the content information CI can be performed by executing a file search service in the P2P network 10. In the P2P network 10, since the content information CI is disclosed as shared data, steps 100 to 104 may be omitted when the content information CI is held as shared data in advance.

  When the peer 12 acquires the content information CI, the process proceeds to step 106, where the content fragment CF necessary for restoring the content C is set based on the content information CI. At this time, if there is a content fragment CF already held, the remaining content fragment CF is set as the requested content fragment CF.

  Next, in step 108, the requested content fragment CF is searched and acquired based on the setting. In acquiring the content fragment CF, a search request message is issued for each content fragment CF divided from the content C, and the peer 12 holding each content fragment CF is specified. Thereafter, a request for downloading the content fragment CF is made to each peer 12. When the content fragment CF is requested, the peer 12 holding the content fragment CF transfers the content fragment CF to the requesting peer 12.

The peer 12 that downloads the content C confirms whether or not the download of all the content fragments CF is completed in step 110. That is, when content fragments CF _{1 to} CF _n are generated for dividing the content C, it is confirmed whether or not all of the content fragments CF _{1 to} CF _n are downloaded.

  Here, when the download of the requested content fragment CF is completed and all of the required content fragments CF are complete, an affirmative determination is made in step 110 and the process proceeds to step 112. In this step 112, the content C is restored by concatenating the content CF based on the content information CI.

  Thereby, the peer 12 can acquire the content C distributed from the server 14.

  In this way, in the P2P network 10, the peer 12 that is the request source can sequentially acquire the content fragments CF. At this time, the content fragments CF are distributed to the plurality of peers 12, and even if the original content C has a large capacity, the capacity is small because the content fragment CF is divided.

  For this reason, even if there are requests for transfer of the content fragment CF from a large number of peers 12, a large load is not applied to the peer 12 holding the content fragment CF.

  In addition, even if a large number of peers 12 download the content C on the P2P network 10, the server 14 is not substantially accessed, so that a heavy load is imposed on the server 14 that is the distribution source of the content C. There is no end.

  Thereby, in the P2P network 10, even the large-capacity content C can be efficiently acquired without imposing a load on the server 14 or the network.

  In this way, by dividing the content C into a plurality of content fragments CF (CF1 to CFn), even if the content C has a large capacity, the content C can be downloaded by downloading the content fragment CF having a relatively small capacity. C can be restored.

At this time, for example, when the content C is video or music and is reproduced in the order of the content fragments CF ₁ , CF ₂ ,..., CF _n , the first content fragment CF ₁ is acquired and this content fragment CF 1 While reproducing ₁ , the next content fragments CF ₂ , CF ₃ ,..., CF _n can be downloaded in the background.

As a result, even for a large-capacity content C, the reproduction of the content C can be started simply by acquiring the first content fragment CF ₁ , so the time from the start of downloading to the start of reproduction Can be greatly shortened.

  On the other hand, in the P2P network 10, the peer 12 that has downloaded the content C may hold (cache) one of the content fragments CF as shared data as necessary. The number of content fragments CF cached by one peer 12 may be plural, but when considering the distribution of the load of the peers 12, it is preferable that the content fragment CF is one content fragment CF.

At this time, the peer 12 confirms whether or not each of the content fragments CF _{1 to} CF _n is cached between the peers 12 within a predetermined range from the adjacent information.

  FIG. 6 shows an outline of the processing at this time. In this flowchart, in the first step 120, the number of hops Hp is set (initial value Hp = 1), and the search range of the peer 12 holding the content fragment CF is set.

  Thereafter, in step 122, a file search is performed within the set range (hop count Hp). That is, a message for confirming the presence / absence of the content fragment CF of the content C is multicast to the peer 12 within the set range based on the route information.

  Thus, each of the peers 12 that have received the message returns a response message.

  From the response message, the peer 12 confirms whether or not the content fragment CF is held, that is, the presence or absence of the search file, and if there is a response message from the peer 12 holding the content fragment CF, in step 124 An affirmative determination is made and the routine proceeds to step 126. It is confirmed whether or not all the content fragments CF for configuring the content C are prepared.

  At this time, if all the content fragments CF are not prepared, a negative determination is made in step 126 and a response message from the next peer 12 is confirmed.

  On the other hand, if the content fragments CF are not prepared within the set range, a negative determination is made at step 124 and the routine proceeds to step 128. In step 128, the setting range is expanded by incrementing the hop number Hp. In step 130, it is confirmed whether or not the set hop number Hp is within a preset allowable range.

  Here, if the new setting range (hop count Hp) is an allowable range, an affirmative determination is made in step 130 and the process proceeds to step 122 to search for the content fragment CF within the newly set range.

  In this way, when all the content fragments CF of the content C are not within the preset allowable range, a negative determination is made at step 130 and the routine proceeds to step 132.

  In this step 132, one of the content fragments CF that are not cached among the peers 12 within the search range is selected, and the selected content fragment CF is set to be cached as shared data. The content fragment CF can be transferred when requested.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, from the peer 12 that downloaded the content C (here, peer 12A) to a predetermined range (a predetermined number of hops Hp, for example, a range indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 7) peer 12 (here, peer 12B, 12C, · ·, 12E) when there is, peer 12A is peer 12B, 12C, · ·, one of the content fragment CF (CF ₁ ~CF _n) to 12E caches Make sure that

Here, for example, peer 12B, 12C, · ·, between 12E, the content fragment _{CF 1, CF 3, ··,} CF n confirms that the cached content fragment CF ₂ is not cached if, peer 12A caches this content fragment CF _2.

  As a result, the content fragments CF constituting the content C are arranged between the peers 12A to 12E, so that the peers 12 (neighboring peers 12) adjacent to the peers 12A to 12E download the content C (content fragment CF). Can be efficiently performed in a short time from the neighboring peers 12 (12A to 12E).

  Further, at this time, since the content fragment CF can be transmitted and received within a relatively narrow range of the P2P network 10, it is possible to suppress the influence on other data transmission and reception.

  In the description using FIG. 6, the search range is expanded in order. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and content can be obtained by a single search by multicasting to peers 12 within a preset range (the number of hops). The content fragment CF to be cached may be checked by any method, such as caching the content fragment CF downloaded from the remotest peer 12 when downloading the content fragment CF. It can be determined.

  On the other hand, when distributing the content Ca in which a part of the content C already distributed is changed, the server 12 divides the content Ca and generates a content fragment CaF. Thereafter, only the content fragment CaF, which is the content fragment CF obtained by dividing the content C and the content fragment CaF, is distributed to the peer 12.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, when the content C is composed of content fragments CF ₁ , CaF ₂ , CF ₃ .. CF _n and only the content fragment CaF ₂ is different among the content fragments CF of the content C, Only the content fragment CaF ₂ is newly distributed to the peer 12, content information CaI for the content Ca is generated, and this content information CaI is published in place of the content information CI.

Here, when the peer 12 that has already downloaded the content C wants to download the newly distributed content Ca, the content Ca can be restored by acquiring only the content fragment CaF ₂ based on the content information CaI. I'm going.

  As a result, if there is content C having the same basic configuration, distribution of new content Ca is facilitated. In addition, since the peer 12 downloads the content Ca in which a part of the content C is changed due to version upgrade or the like, it is not necessary to download the content fragment CaF that has not been changed, and the content Ca can be efficiently downloaded. It becomes.

  Therefore, for example, when video distribution or music distribution is performed using video and audio as contents, when a commercial video or commercial message is sandwiched in the main part, the exchange of the commercial video or commercial message is facilitated.

  In addition, for example, by using music live as the main content and sandwiching the latest ticket information, it is possible to advertise a live ticket while viewing the music live.

  Further, when the travel video or the like is used as the main content, it is possible to easily provide tour guidance or tourist guidance to viewers of the travel video or the like by sandwiching related travel advertisements or travel guidance.

  In addition, when e-learning is performed, it is possible to easily distribute exercises and the like that match the student's ability.

  In addition, this Embodiment demonstrated above does not limit the structure of this invention. For example, in this embodiment, on-demand video distribution, on-demand music distribution, Internet broadcasting, e-learning, and the like are applied examples. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and information distributed via a network is used. If it exists, it can be applied to arbitrary information distribution, not limited to video and music.

  In this embodiment, the P2P network 10 to which the server 14 is connected has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to a network having an arbitrary configuration as long as information distribution to each peer of the P2P network is performed. Can be applied.

It is the schematic of the P2P network applied to this Embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the peer which forms a P2P network. It is a schematic block diagram of the principal part which shows an example of the server connected to a P2P network. It is the schematic which shows dispersion | distribution of the fragment and content information on a P2P network. It is a flowchart which shows an example of acquisition of a content. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the selection process of the fragment to cache. It is the schematic which shows the arrangement | positioning of the fragment based on the process of FIG. 6, and the fragment to cache. It is the schematic which shows dispersion | distribution of the fragment of the content which changed one part, and content information.

Explanation of symbols

10 P2P network 12 Peer 14 Server 18 Data sharing unit 44 Content division unit 46 Content information generation unit 48 Content distribution unit C, Ca content CF (CF _{1 to} CF _n ), CaF (CaF ₂ ) Content fragment CI, CaI Content information ( Related information)

Claims (7)

An information processing method for distributing predetermined content in response to a request from a peer in a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other,
Generate relevant information that splits the content into multiple fragments and allows the content to be recovered from the fragments,
Distribute and distribute each of the divided fragments to a predetermined peer as shared data, and publish relevant information on the content,
Each of the fragments can be collected from the related information within the peer-to-peer network, and the content can be restored based on the collected fragments.   When distributing new content in which a part of the fragment is changed, the changed fragment is distributed, and the original content fragment and related information that enables the new content to be restored by the new fragment are generated. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the information processing method is disclosed.   3. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the peer that has collected the fragment based on the related information holds at least one of the fragments as shared data.   The information processing method according to claim 3, wherein a fragment held as the shared data is set based on the fragment held by a peer within a predetermined range from the corresponding peer. In a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other, a distribution information processing method for distributing predetermined content in response to a request from a peer,
Dividing the content into a plurality of fragments;
Generate related information that makes it possible to restore the content from the fragment,
Publishing the relevant information to a peer-to-peer network;
A method of processing distribution information, characterized in that the fragment is distributed and distributed to predetermined peers in the peer-to-peer network as shared data that can be transferred according to a request of each peer. A distribution information processing program that enables a predetermined content to be distributed in response to a request from a peer in a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other,
Dividing the content into a plurality of fragments;
Generating related information that allows the content to be restored from the fragment;
Publishing the relevant information to a peer-to-peer network;
Distributing the fragments as shared data to predetermined peers in the peer-to-peer network;
A distribution information processing program comprising: In a peer-to-peer network in which peers provided as information processing terminals are virtually connected to each other, a distribution processing device that can distribute predetermined content in response to a request from a peer,
Dividing means for dividing the content into a plurality of fragments;
Information generating means for generating related information enabling the restoration of the content from the fragment and publishing the related information to a peer-to-peer network;
Distribution means for distributing and distributing the fragment to predetermined peers in the peer-to-peer network, and holding the fragment as shared data that can be transferred to the peer in response to a request from the peer;
A distribution processing apparatus comprising:

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